ACCA report reveals enterprising spirit in accounting professionals

A new report by the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) has revealed that young Nigerian finance professionals are looking to make their next career move within the coming year in new businesses.

The findings from ACCA global research titled: ‘Next generation,’ which examined the career aspirations of the younger generation in finance, showed that Nigerian accountants are the most entrepreneurial.

This, according to the report, is because 95 per cent of them said that their next career move would be starting a business, compared to 81 per cent globally.

It explained that in the polling of over 740 young people under the age of 36, the ACCA discovered that Nigerians had aspirations for leadership, with 40 per cent seeing themselves leading a finance team and 46 per cent seeking a different role in a different area of finance in the future.

The ACCA report stated that many Nigerians felt that they had a strong relationship with their manager (71 per cent) and their colleagues (81 per cent), but do not feel career paths were clear or transparent in their organisation.

It read in part: “A third feel that their career success is more dependent on who they know, and what they know, and only 31 per cent consider their current organisation offers sufficient opportunities to achieve their career goals.

“The results also reveal the factors that make an employer attractive to young Nigerian talent. Top of the list at 96 per cent is the opportunity to learn and develop their skills; the least attractive is the work location at 66 per cent and the employer’s brand at 76 per cent.”

Commenting on the report, the Head of ACCA Nigeria, Toyin Ademola, said: “This is a clear signal for employers that they need to have the right policies and the right training to hold onto their talent. Stifled and frustrated career goals will lead to people moving on, so formal training and learning is clearly a need.

“If Nigerian employers want their staff to stay then they need to offer great training and development, and also job security. The whole package is important – but it’s interesting to see that work location and work life balance does not matter as much as the chance to develop skills and abilities.”